Earl Young (drummer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Earl Young is a Philadelphia-based drummer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s as part of the Philly Soul sound. Worked with Ronnie Baker and Norman Harris in Baker/Harris/Young productions. The trio also performed and recorded as The Trammps and had a hit record with "Disco Inferno". Young is seen as the inventor of the disco style of rock drumming, as he was the first to make extensive and distinctive use of the Hi Hat cymbal throughout the playing time of an R & B recording. This is turn led to DJ's favoring his recordings because they could hear the cymbal quite easily in their headphones as they "cued up" records to be mixed. Young would feature prominently on many Gamble and Huff recordings before moving on to Salsoul Records as part of the house band for the label. He recorded extensively at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios.

In 1989, newcomers Ten City would seek out Young to work on their debut album for the House Music scene, and even commissioned Young for remixing of some of the material as well as session drumming.